Louisville's Friday Night Street Faire to celebrate 10 years at the Steinbaugh Pavilion

By Kimberli Turner

Colorado Hometown Weekly

Posted:
06/13/2013 10:01:40 AM MDT

Updated:
06/13/2013 10:02:32 AM MDT

Josh Ochoa connects poles for a tent at Steinbaugh Paviolion in Downtown Louisville. Gary Turner and Ron Morales Jr. are working the the background. The Street Faire starts Friday, June 14. (Cliff Grassmick / For Hometown Weekly)

2013 Street Faire bands:

June 14: Red Hot Louisiana Band

June 21: Young Dubliners

June 28: Richie Furay

July 12: BoDeans

July 19: The Samples

July 26: Samantha Fish

Aug. 2: Tab Benoit

Aug. 9: Firefall

Aug. 16: Dickey Betts & Great Southern

The Louisville Friday Night Street Faires have come a long way.

More than a decade ago, scarcely a couple hundred people turned out to watch local bands perform on a 20-foot-long flatbed fold-out trailer along Spruce Street. The summer series, sponsored by the Louisville Downtown Business Association, now draws thousands of people weekly to Front Street and boasts national acts at the Steinbaugh Pavilion.

"On Friday nights we'd take that trailer down, fold it open and have local bands play there. I think at first we had 10 vendors at most," said Arlin Lehman, a former Louisville resident and DBA member, who was instrumental in launching the Street Faire. "In that first year if we got a couple hundred people on a Friday night, we were happy. We didn't even have a sound system. That first year was very sparse."

The trailer was completely equipped with chairs, tables, tents and an awning, said Street Faire manager Ronda Grassi, and every Friday night Lehman would drive up with the trailer hitched to his truck and set up for another fun evening downtown.

Grassi said the faires have been operating for about 13 years -- when you count the early years on Spruce -- but 2013 marks the 10th anniversary celebration for the Friday Night Street Faires at the Steinbaugh Pavilion on Front Street.

The Louisville DBA raised around $70,000 to rehabilitate the Steinbaugh Pavilion that was once a burned out barn and later used as a warehouse for the former Steinbaugh Hardware store that was located on Main Street, Grassi said. The property was later sold to the city, but DBA members and residents wanted to raise the money to create a pavilion to house the Street Faire bands and in turn create a venue for city use and community events.

Grassi feels the Friday night faires have grown into what they are today because of the event's roots.

"I think the (Street Faire) is what it is because of the way it started and the spirit of volunteerism. We did it for the fun of it and there's a purity in that that creates a little magic," she said.

C.J. Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band will help Louisville kick off the milestone anniversary at this summer's first Friday night faire on June 14, with the sounds of zydeco, blues and boogie, or what Chenier calls "happy feet music."

C.J. Chenier's father Clifton, known as "The King of Zydeco," fronted the band that evolved into the Red Hot Louisiana Band from the 1950s until he died in 1987. CJ., who at that time was playing saxaphone, adopted the band and got more serious about the piano accordion, the instrument Clifton played.

C.J. Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band will help Louisville kick off the 10th anniversary celebration of the Friday Night Street Faires at the Steinbaugh Pavilion on Front Street on Friday, June 14, with the sounds of zydeco, blues and boogie. (Courtesy photo)

Clifton created modern zydeco by mixing Cajun and French two-steps and waltzes with blues, rhythm and blues and rock and roll.

C.J. has played the Friday night faire a few times, he said, and when he learned this summer's series marked the 10-year anniversary, he had to be part of the music lineup.

"We've played a lot of places ... but Louisville is more like a big old family. Everyone's there to have fun," he said during a phone interview from his Texas home on Friday, June 7. "We try to bring a whole lot of joy and happiness. When (the crowd) goes home, they're going home energetic and happy because they have such a good time."

The band also includes Glenn Griffin on bass, Selwyn Cooper on guitar, Graylin Hoffman on drums, "Young Buk" on washboard and John Polansky on percussion.

Chenier said he looks forward to playing Steinbaugh again, and getting people out there to dance.

"I never plan a show, I just plan on people having a good time," Chenier said. "I'm always ready when it comes to music. I don't have to prepare."

C.J. Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band is one of many national acts to grace the Steinbaugh Pavilion.

Steve Mesple, co-owner of Louisville's Wildwood Guitars, booked the Street Faire bands for the first several years.

Lehman said in its early years, the event hosted local bands, mostly from Louisville and Lafayette, and then began to showcase regional bands. They eventually made the leap to national bands with Mesple's connections.

Mesple said as the budget grew, he was able to reach out to those popular national acts. But it was key to try and catch the bands during a tour so he could negotiate a lower price and they could swing through Louisville for a performance.

"I was tasked with finding great entertainment ... and that was a real labor of love for me. I can still remember the first concert where I felt the Street Faire had arrived. It was Hazel Miller, local legend," he said, adding that faire-goers had come to the event 90 minutes earlier to try and reserve a close seat to see her.

He credits bands like Hazel Miller, Chris Daniels, Firefall and The Subdudes in helping launch the Street Faire musically.

"I think the Friday Night Street Faire is one of the finest community-sponsored musical events in Colorado," he said. "It's musically inspired and a very special event for all. Now it has turned into a spectacular event that needs no promotion or praise."

Louisville's Gravity Brewing will sell a special 10th anniversary Orange Blossom saison at the Street Faire, and Avery Brewing will have an IPA and White Rascal on tap as well as a fourth tap that will rotate each week.

New this year, a handful of Louisville restaurants will serve food at the faire in addition to the more than 50 vendors offering food, arts and crafts, jewelry and more.

The Friday Night Street Faire kicks off June 14 and will run through Aug. 16, and is free and open to the public. There will be no Street Faire Friday, July 5. The faire runs 5 to 10 p.m. with music from 6:30 to 9 p.m.